Wednesday, 23 September 2009

Whether you're a fan of their music or not, this latest campaign from Kisschasy is pretty clever, particularly given the recent increased interest in how bands can creatively market themselves.

Entitled "Marketing 101 with Kisschasy", the band are releasing videos on YouTube which showcase how Kisschasy have become more hands on with the marketing side of their careers - to the point where they have actually taken over all marketing responsibilities on their new record. Each video takes a (somewhat) subtle dig at a marketing campaign or tactic used by other bands.

The first lecture in Marketing 101 sees Kisschasy making fun of Short Stack, where they repeat Short Stack's campaign to personally call fans (with a twist). This is particularly relevant given that both Kisschasy and Short Stack have made it into the Top 4 finalists for the title of 2009 Oz Artist, and are competing against each other for public votes at the moment!

The second sees them trying to get their music on an iPod commercial, by creating their own version of the advertisement. Getting a track included in an iPod ad has been a great promotional technique to launch international careers for Aussie bands including Wolfmother (with "Love Train" in 2006), The Vines ("Ride" in 2005) and Jet back in 2003 with "Are You Gonna Be My Girl".

These videos haven't yet received many views, but I think that it is really nice to see a band's 'personality' and sense of humour being reflected in their marketing activities.